Blue Lotus
by Ryo Hoshi
Summary: AU After repeated failures to arrange a proper marriage for his heir, Zelgadiss, Rezo arranges for a concubine for him.
1. Chapter 1 First Impressions 1

This story contains strong sexual themes. If you do not like such things, don't read this. You hath been warned.  
Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 1_

Amelia tried to stay calm as her 'ladies in waiting' bustled about, preparing her for the 'most important event in her life'. She didn't know what she felt about it, herself. She only knew that she was too young: regardless of how old she looked, she was only a little over fifteen.  
Of course, the women currently filling the room wouldn't believe her if she said as much. They all 'knew' her as Ami Smith, the foundling that was the previous Madame's last purchase and, since it was officially her 18th birthday, she was finally joining the ranks of the hard-working 'girls' at the Blue Lotus. Best of all, their 'Ami' had gotten 'lucky'.  
The newest girl was always in demand and was rarely without a customer, and Amelia had been aware that the Madame had gotten offers by several of the regulars to be among the first to enjoy Amelia's wares. None of them were attractive, possessing either ugly bodies or misshapen souls, and _all_ of them could not be honestly called young. Her luck consisted purely in that she had been saved from having to service them because, instead, she had gotten contracted to be the concubine of a young man by his relatives.  
Amelia smiled slightly at the memory of Madame Zola telling her about her luck. She really was as kind towards her girls as she could be without causing them all to starve. Amelia knew that she had looked old enough to openly service the customers for almost a year now, and that if she had been in a different brothel she would probably have been serving customers in some way from the first day she was there.  
It would be unjust if Madame Zola was too hurt by the contract. It wasn't her fault, after all, that Amelia had been sold to a brothel. When her father vanished -- Amelia refused to accept that he might be dead, even though him being still alive was very unlikely now -- she had been put into the care of her uncle Christopher and his son, Alfred. While her uncle had been nice, he was too busy taking care of her father's gigantic corporation to take care of her. She had been entrusted by him to his son, who wanted Amelia's inheritance as his own.  
Amelia only found out about _that_, however, when her 'sweet cousin' Alfred had her kidnapped and sold nearly two years ago, once it was clear that she was entering puberty. Sometimes she wondered what happened to her, officially. She didn't feel quite right about asking the other girls about it, and by the time she was getting to join them when they gossiped it would have been old news so she would have had to ask them.  
Amelia hoped her customer would be a nice man, whom she could trust enough to explain why she wanted to know what had happened to her. 

Zelgadiss made one last check of his disguise before stepping out of the limousine. He was glad that it was currently fashionable for men to visit the red light district in disguise; he was already embarrassed enough that Rezo had decided to, for his 18th birthday, arrange for him to have a concubine. Having to expose his freakish body to more than he absolutely had to would have only made it worse.  
He _could_ understand it, to a certain extent. He was, as far as he knew, Rezo's only heir. Zel could understand the Red Priest's desire for him to have an heir, and the troubles of arranging a proper marriage for an ugly freak like him. However, since he only was an 'ugly freak' _because_ of Rezo...  
He couldn't complain, though, about the arrangement. He was certain it had been made because Rezo had decided that the only way any woman would agree to being with a chimera like him would be because she was being paid...  
Zelgadiss just hoped that the woman wouldn't scream when she finally saw her customer. As long as she wasn't that afraid of him, he might be able to pretend that they were together just because they wanted each other and not because she was being paid. 

Amelia had given up trying to hide her nervousness. Once it had started to get dark, the women who had been so busy preparing her for her debut in her new profession had started drifting away, most of them deciding that there was little else they could do to prepare her for her first customer and that it was time to look after their own. The last one had left her sitting on the plush couch of her new apartment sipping a shotglass of rum, wearing a white dress-like robe carefully belted over fancy lingerie.  
The alcohol, she had to admit, _did_ help calm her. The advice she had been given by them had not been all that calming, though she supposed it might be useful. She hoped that the advice she had gotten about dealing with the more exotic desires of men and the more distasteful kinds of men, though, would not be needed. She would be dealing with this man for a while, not just a single night here and there.  
She wasn't sure how long exactly it was between when she was left alone and when Madame Zola knocked, but it was just long enough for her to have finished the shotglass. Madame Zola looked around the room, clearly giving the preparations their final inspection, and nodded in approval. "I see you are ready, dear. Your guest has arrived; he's not exactly handsome, as much of him as he doesn't have covered, but he seems honest enough for a sweet young girl like you."  
She placed the thing she had carried in with her onto the low table in front of the couch and pulled away the quilted cloth to reveal a bottle of champaigne on ice. "This is for the both of you, and though the one who made these arrangements for your guest supplied it, I _did_ suggest it. For before, if he's not too nice, or after if he is a nice one."  
Amelia blushed. That was quite considerate of Madame Zola. "Thank you, Zola-sama."  
Zola smiled. "Such a polite girl! I wish I could give you a bit more of an idea of what he's like, but he seems eager for your company."  
Amelia smiled back. "It's alright. I'm glad you tried." 

Zelgadiss sighed in relief as the Blue Lotus's Madame finally told him that his 'girl' was ready. He hadn't known what to expect, really. He had only recently become old enough legally visit the brothels, even though he knew that he could have likely visited the unlicensed ones -- but those had become few, as that scandal about some rich man's underage daughter getting kidnapped and sold had caused the authorities to become much stricter on enforcing the laws regulating brothels.  
He remembered that she never _had_ been found. He smirked slightly as he rejected the idea that the 'other shoe' would be that she'd turn out to be this 'White Daisy'. _That_ was impossible, since the girl at best would have been shipped out as a parcel to a foreign brothel as soon as possible once the scandal broke. More likely, she was dead.  
It didn't take Zel long to find the door he had been directed to, and he slipped in silently. A quick glance around told him that this was an apartment; Daisy, he decided, must be one of their more experienced girls, one whose age had yet to start showing _too_ much. _At least one of us will know what we're doing_, he thought to himself.  
He thumbed the lock on the door, which made a distinct click to signal that the door was now locked. He didn't wonder where the room's owner was; he could hear her from behind the door to the other room, probably a bedroom. _She must want to know what kind of act she needs to put on beforehand._ He found the thought mildly amusing.  
Zelgadiss turned so she would have a good view, moving naturally so she'd not think that he had guessed what she was doing, and pulled his hood and veil down to reveal his chimeric features. There was a little exclamation of surprise from behind the door, and Zelgadiss turned to look at the door as the voice sounded distinctly younger than he had expected.  
It was his turn to be surprised, as in the door stood a rather pretty young woman, who looked much too young to have _any_ experience. 

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This story was inspired by a mix of: two fanfics which shall not be named, certain doujinshi, anthropology texts about Japan, and some just plain bad influences. (You know who you are.) I hope those whom I've liberated plot elements from will not mind it too much.  
The version I will be posting on FF.net will probably not be a full version; there will be some lemon scenes written for this, but I will not be posting them here. I may ultimately choose to only provide them privately, on request. I've yet to decide. 

Comments, questions, suggestions, and requests would be liked a lot. So would dark chocolate. 


	2. Chapter 2 First Impressions 2

Wow. I'm really amazed at the response I've gotten for this story already. I hope nobody finds this chapter disappointing...  
Only a few people really have anything I can provide a direct reply to, so I'll cover those before going through the general list of thank-yous, all in no particular order...  
It's good to see you again, WD! T-sama seems to accept a desire to send dark chocolate in the place of the real substance. (During this time of the year, that's probably for the best.) Meanwhile, I'll just continue to wonder how this manages to be a _sweet_ story.  
PixieChalk, you probably have no idea how happy I am to see somebody say this is smoothly written. You would be best off contacting me via AIM to get any unpostable chapters from me directly. I'm not sure yet if I be also posting Blue Lotus anywhere that allows lemons.  
Thank you for the dark chocolate and the interesting review, Small Lady! I'll be happy to continue... I hope I manage to continue to keep you from feeling like bashing Amelia. I don't know if I can continue to keep Zelgadiss sexy, though. He seems the type to go into shock if anybody suggests to him that he's being sexy, even though he certainly does seem to try to be sexy (and quite successfully, too) a few times in the anime!  
Lauren-sama, you ask a lot of questions. I think that, though, the first question should be if Zelgadiss has any idea what he really wants in the first place. Don't expect any of your questions to be answered in a certain way _anytime_ soon. Thank you for the good wishes!  
Now to cover the rest of you quickly... Blue Quartz, Cookie, and particularly la, I hope this is soon enough for you. Alea Seikou, thank you for the support & your interest! destructive sorceress, that's particularly interesting considering I've not gotten to see Moulin Rouge (yet). Drake, that was my dark chocolate! Tenniyo, thank you for the dark chocolate -- and for being the first reviewer of story! 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 2_ First Impressions (2) 

Amelia watched as her customer walked towards her, too frightened by both his appearance and his expression to move. He seemed to realize that as he got close enough to touch her, as his eyes darkened and he turned to leave. Amelia realized that this wasn't good at all; if he left _now_, she'd probably end up losing what she had been so lucky to get and end up among the regular girls once her virginity was resold.  
"I'm sorry, sir!" She grabbed his sleeve carefully, in case he might react forcefully to her trying to keep him there. "I wasn't expecting you to look so strange. Please don't go!"  
He turned, his expression unreadable, and Amelia had to force herself to not back off. She _had_ to convince him to at least give her a second chance, and if she continued to let her fear of his appearance control her so much she'd never succeed.   
Still, he _did_ look scary. His blue skin, with its strange look and occasional grey bumps, wasn't like anything she had seen before, even among the mazoku and dragons she had sometimes met back before she had been sold. His hair wasn't as unusual, as she had seen a few people with silvery hair before, though not with the same kind of metallic shine. Still, her mother had always said, 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' so she shouldn't have assumed anything about him simply from his appearance.  
"Please...please, sir, I don't want to lose this job... Just give me a chance, please, I'm sorry I wasn't more polite..." she pled as he reached to detach her from his sleeve.  
He paused as his hand closed on hers, apparently having just noticed her expression. He sighed and let go of her hand. "Alright. I will..." he said, clearly reluctant. 

Zelgadiss cursed himself as he watched the girl take another sip of champagne. It was bad enough that he had given in to Daisy's begging. He wasn't sure which was worse of what happened after that, that she had turned out to be a _virgin_ or that he had almost slipped a hand into her panties by the time he had thought to ask her how much experience she possessed.  
When he realized that she might beg him some more once she realized how uncomfortable the idea of taking her virginity made him feel, he decided to distract her by teaching her how to serve champagne properly. Zelgadiss found it somewhat strange that she had quite good manners, but not the good manners of a high-class courtesan. He _had_ heard the stories about families of good breeding but bad funds selling daughters to brothels, though, but he hadn't really thought that they could possibly be true.  
That was turning out to be something of a mixed blessing. She _was_ distracted from her customer's sudden disinterest in sleeping with her, but Zel was starting to become more comfortable with the idea of taking her virginity as he drank.  
It was only a matter of time, alcohol tolerances, and alcohol supply now before he gave in, and he knew it. Amelia seemed to have a lower tolerance than him, since she was already flirting with him, so he had no hope at all that she might help him resist. 

Zelgadiss cautiously opened his eyes, and blessed the girl for leaving the curtains closed. He wasn't sure he was happy about waking up alone on the couch, though. He knew that, with his hangover, not having her in the room and making noises would be for the best. Still, he felt abandoned.  
_What **did** we do last night?_ He could remember it slightly, and he knew that the stickiness he felt on his thighs should mean something to him... _The girl moaning and writhing underneath me, while I was too busy enjoying her to be too concerned about her feelings..._  
_Oh, **damn**. No wonder she left me._ Zelgadiss wondered if he should try to get up, and maybe find a sink and clean himself up so he could leave. He didn't have any appointments, since Rezo had insisted he leave the day free, and he'd prefer to just stay there, but...  
He knew he'd not be comfortable, and that he should leave. He closed his eyes, promising himself that he'd leave as soon as his head stopped throbbing so badly.  
He heard the door open quietly and soft footsteps approach him. "Are you awake yet, Zelgadiss-sama?"  
"I thought you had left..."  
There was a soft laugh, and he heard a tray get put down. "I just wanted to get a few things done. I thought you might like some breakfast, Zelgadiss-sama, and something to clean my blood off of your thighs. I know I found it uncomfortable..." She paused. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should have realized that you would have a hangover, too." A hand gently brushed against his forehead, and he heard hear murmur "_Declary_."  
He felt the hangover fade away, and suspicions return. She definitely was unexpected, if she knew magic... Only old money families, talented individuals, and temple children learned magic...  
Still, that could be worried about another time. Now, he needed to figure out how to get himself out of there quickly, without offending her. 

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Magic _is_ used in this world, but lessons are expensive so it's not that common for people to know how to use it. Old money families have the money to pay for the lessons; in many ways, one of the marks of old money is that all members of the family with any magical talent have gotten their talents trained as completely as possible. Talented people tend to have a patron paying for their lessons, the usual method of repayment being that they work for a certain period of time for their patron. Temple children get their lessons for free, both because the temples are the primary source of magic lessons and because they are almost all going to become members of the clergy and thus need to know magic.  
(I will cover the temples in more detail another time.) 

Comments, questions, suggestions, and requests would be liked a lot. So would dark chocolate. 


	3. Chapter 3 First Impressions 3

Here are quick replies to the nice reviews:  
Tenniyo, you're fast! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you very much for the dark chocolate, but please don't throw it so hard next time.  
Amechan, your whole review is strange, but I think I understand what you said. Thanks for the dark chocolate. I guess I'll have to add a few more of the methods for contacting me to my bio as soon as FF.net'll let me adjust my settings.  
Claudia and Blue Quartz, both of your questions will be answered, for the most part, in the story itself. However, while Quartz's question is answered this chapter, Claudia's will have to wait a few more chapters and take a while to fully answer even then. Meanwhile, Claudia, I'm glad you like all my stories and particularly like this one. Thanks for the dark chocolate, too! 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 3_ First Impressions (3) 

Zelgadiss smiled slightly at Daisy. "Thank you, but I really would like to just bathe and leave. I'm sure it's quite late..." He knew better to say that he was certain that the brothel would be closing soon, if it hadn't already.  
She smiled, and he couldn't help but notice how sweet and pretty her smile looked. "I..._we_ do have a bath, Zelgadiss-sama. You don't have to leave so soon, though. You're welcome here anytime, so, please, have breakfast with me. I'd really like your company..."  
Zelgadiss looked at her strangely. Did that mean...? "About last night, Daisy..."  
"Oh... Was...was I any good? I can't really remember anything past my third or fourth glass," she admitted with a blush.  
Zel stared at her. "You don't remember?" She shook her head. "Then, never mind." It would be pointless to apologize to her for something she didn't remember, and that would explain why she seemed to want to have his company for longer than necessary.  
Completely oblivious to his train of thought, she cheerfully said, "If you say so, Zelgadiss-sama... I wish I did remember, though. You're really a very nice man, and you've been very considerate of me, at least during the parts I can remember. I'm really very lucky to have you..."  
Zelgadiss blushed, feeling both flattered and extremely guilty, and decided to change the subject. "Where is the bath? I _do_ need to bathe, even if I am staying."  
She nodded. "It's on the other side of the bedroom. It's a traditional style one, and rather nice though it's not very big since we're in the attic and it had to be tucked in under the roof."  
Zel stood up and followed Daisy, since she seemed determined to lead the way. It was simply coincidence that he also got to watch her walk while wearing only a clingy robe. "I do know how to use a traditional bath. Rezo prefers them to the 'foreign' ones that have been fashionable lately."  
She slid the door to the bath open, letting light flood into the previously dim bedroom, giving Zelgadiss a glimpse of a white room with white-draped four-poster bed and what were presumably French doors with thick dark drapes with white curtains peeking out from underneath. The color scheme seemed very appropriate to a girl with the working name 'White Daisy'.  
The bathroom continued the color scheme. The walls were covered in white tile, except for a line of black tile at the point where the slant of the ceiling met the short long wall. The room was taken up nearly completely by the tub and 'sunken' washing area that was produced by having a long step up right in front of the door. The size didn't keep it from having some luxuries, though, as the small tub had a nice, wide ledge for sitting on inside, niches in the wall and a few ledges along the walls intended for storage, and the ceiling was almost entirely taken up by a frosted-glass skylight.  
Distracted by a search of the niches in the wall to find one that held bathing supplies instead of candles, he didn't consciously notice Daisy joining him in the bathroom until he heard the door slide shut. He turned to see that she had abandoned the robe, but _had_ brought in a small pile of towels and a bucket of bath supplies, some of them looking quite familiar to him. She smiled at him, and said, "Apparently somebody had expected you to sometimes bathe here, Zelgadiss-sama, since I'm pretty certain some of these bath supplies are for you."  
Zelgadiss blushed; it was quite obvious that the wire cutters and steel wool were for him. "Thank you..." Uncomfortable, he decided to change the subject. "So, why aren't you walking awkwardly or hung over? Did you use healing spells on yourself, like you did on me?"  
"Yes, Zelgadiss-sama," she said cheerfully as she started the tub filling. "I've become good enough at curing hangovers and dealing with...stretched and bruised muscles that I can cure them in my sleep. White magic is very useful!"  
He tried to force his eyes away from her chest; he couldn't help noticing that it bounced very attractively when she was being enthusiastic and posing like she had been towards the end of her short speech. It just wasn't right to do that to her, after having hurt her badly the night before simply for his own drunken pleasure. "I haven't learned any white magic, myself."  
She stared at him, surprised. "But aren't you Rezo-sama's heir, Zelgadiss-sama? I can't believe that you, of all people, would not know a single white magic spell! Certainly you must have some talent for magic, and you could never have trouble finding a teacher!"  
Zelgadiss shrugged slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed for some unknown reason. "I never was particularly interested in white magic. I hadn't thought that it was that useful. I'm much better at shamanism, though, and I have studied black magic."  
Daisy nodded as she went back to laying things out for their bath. "I had studied some basic shamanistic spells before... But I've not really gotten to try that many of those spells, since it was felt that it was more important that I know white magic than any other form. I would really like to learn more, though."  
Zelgadiss barely managed to resist offering to teach her. It wouldn't work; not only was she a prostitute, and would probably be only harmed by knowing anything more than healing spells, he knew he shouldn't really spend more time around her. The night before had been a mistake, and he was lucky she didn't remember most of it.  
Letting Daisy set up in the washing area first, he realized that he'd been too distracted to object to her bathing with him -- and that part of him didn't mind it at all. Sitting on the floor of the washing area, he reached to claim his 'wash cloth' and the bottle of soap...and, as he drew his hand back, elbowed Daisy. Blushing, particularly because of where he had elbowed her, he apologised, and promptly elbowed her again to his further embarrassment.  
"Maybe we should try washing each other?" she suggested, faintly shy about the idea. "We'd not have to worry too much about getting in each other's way, then..."  
Zelgadiss considered the idea. On one hand, it would mean that he'd have to allow her to touch him, and he wasn't quite comfortable with the thought of being touched by anybody just then. On the other hand, he'd have an excuse to touch her without the risk of her making any awkward assumptions about it and, though he'd deny it even to himself, her breasts looked very tempting.  
Well, while he didn't want to be touched, certainly there was no problem with touching _her_? He said, blushing, "I'll wash you, but I prefer to bathe myself, so you can soak while I take care of myself."  
"If that's what you'd like, Zelgadiss-sama, then I won't complain," she said with a blush matching his own.  
Carefully putting his steel wool 'wash cloth' down on a nearby ledge so it'd not get rinsed unintentionally or pose an unwanted hazard, he took Daisy's own wash cloth and started gently scrubbing her. As he became more comfortable with it, he realized that she was slowly relaxing and becoming very accepting of his touch. 

Amelia sighed happily. Zelgadiss-sama's hands on her body felt wonderful. His hands were gentle, and she could tell that he was worried he might hurt her. He was clearly more concerned about her than she had expected any customer to be, and that made her wish even more that she could remember the night before. "Zelgadiss-sama?"  
He paused in his washing. "Yes?"  
"You're really kind to me, and I feel lucky that..." She smiled, trying to cover the awkwardness of their relationship's nature. "Thank you, Zelgadiss-sama."  
He blushed. "But... I'm a chimera, a _freak_. How could you feel lucky about having me? Are the other...men so bad?"  
"No, Zelgadiss-sama, though some are horrible. You're gentle towards me, even though you don't have to be, and when you're not frowning you're very handsome. You can be very scary-looking at times, though." 

Zelgadiss winced. He didn't know what he found worse, that she had said that he could look scary sometimes or that he couldn't pretend that she was only saying things to flatter him. It would have been easier to not come back, and to not feel so guilty about having hurt her, if she wasn't so _nice_.  
Perhaps he had better change the topic, before she did anything else to make it hard for him to never come back. With a slight smirk that he wasn't aware of (caused primarily by the part of him that had encouraged him to wash her in the first place realizing what was left to scrub), he resumed washing her. "It's a bit awkward to keep calling you 'Daisy'; don't you have another name?"  
She stared at him, her blue eyes wide (and far too cute for him to resist). "Zelgadiss-sama! We only met last night! Madame and the girls told me to never tell a man my real name unless I knew him extremely well and was willing to trust him completely! Until I know you better...that is a secret."  
Zelgadiss froze for a few seconds, and then started to scrub her a bit less gently than before, her startled squeak not quite registering. "Please don't use that phrase. It reminds me of somebody I don't like very much."  
She moaned softly. "Whatever you wish, Zelgadiss-sama," she said, almost breathlessly.  
Zelgadiss looked at her, worried. Her eyes were closed, with a faint flush decorating her face, and she was panting softly. He realised why as he saw where he'd been scrubbing her. Blushing, he moved the washcloth away from her crotch and prayed that she'd not say anything.  
He quickly finished scrubbing her and rinsed her, glad that she was willing to respect his desire to not talk about what had just happened. Once she was soaking, and he no longer had to worry about elbowing her, he washed himself as fast as he could. He didn't know which made him feel more awkward, the fact that she was watching him or that she was apparently enjoying getting to watch him bathe.  
Zelgadiss decided to skip soaking and go straight to breakfast. He didn't want to have to think too much about how it felt to have a woman who seemed to actually like how he looked. It was easier to just get dressed as quickly as he could, and get breakfast over as soon as possible, only observing the niceties.  
He wasn't quite sure when promising to see her that night became one of those niceties. 

As Zelgadiss left the apartment, he almost ran into the madame. She nodded politely to him, clearly recognizing him from the night before. As she went into Daisy's apartment, he paused, and then decided that there was nothing wrong with waiting outside the door so he could talk to her about possibly keeping a robe and some spare clothes there for himself. And if he happened to hear anything, well...  
Feeling slightly guilty from the start for merely listening, he felt progressively more guilty as the conversation went on. He knew he really didn't deserve all the complimentary things Daisy was saying about him. He was, after all, standing outside her door with what was, if he was honest about it, a flimsy excuse for eavesdropping.  
The only real benefit to it was that he now knew that the madame, at least, called her Ami. Such random information as the fact that she hadn't even been added to the public roster of the house's available girls, mentioned in passing when the madame remarked that some man had come early that night and tried to buy Ami's first night, really wasn't important and knowing those kinds of things made him feel extremely embarrassed.  
Zel wasn't sure how he felt about discovering that her complements were not empty flattery but completely honest, though, and he decided that his talk with the madame could wait until that night. He wanted some time alone to think. 

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The women owned by the brothels are usually given a working name which reflects both the role they play and the brothel's theme. For example, all the girls at the Blue Lotus would have names referring to colors and flowers. Another brothel might choose to call its girls after various birds, and yet another might choose to use precious stones.  
The main reason for the customers being given a pseudonym is to protect those girls who manage to leave. There's quite a few horror stories circulating among the prostitutes about girls who successfully gained their freedom only to end up getting stalked by one of their former customers who had managed to find them. 

Reviews and dark chocolate are welcomed, and will encourage me to work harder on writing this story. 


	4. Chapter 4 Interlude, At the Ball 1

I'm glad you like the mix I'm using, KaeruTwisted. A large part of why I write AUs is because I believe that simply because you call something an 'Alternate Universe' does not mean you have automatic justification of completely ignoring characterization issues. Of course, to make this argument you have to actually be able to prove that one can get them mostly in character in an alternate universe with all changes being ones you can directly attribute to the changed environment.  
I will also admit that it lets you mix strange things together, like elements from traditional Japanese culture and the canon universe's psudo-European world. As for how this will progress, I honestly have no idea. I've got a growing rabbit population, and they seem to be the same breed as the one from Monty Python, too. I'm just sticking to seeing which ones survive as I continually edit what vague notes I have about how this might go. (Don't worry, nothing will come from out of nowhere.)  
Lauren-sama, I _had_ been wondering. I've gotten to the point that when you miss a chapter, I become worried if you're having problems or that I maybe managed to write a completely terrible chapter.  
I hope that you didn't mind them not being as you expected, though Zel's forwardness was mainly due at first to how he perceived the situation and later on it was caused by too much alcohol. Amelia, on the other hand, has had several years to adapt to her situation, and some of the reasons why she's not as unhappy about it as one might expect get explained later. I will be trying to continue things in the tone of part three, no matter what, because I really don't want this to be angsty and that seems to be the other choice.  
Thank you for yet more dark chocolate, Kioku! Thank you for sending it gently this time.  
Nearly everybody seems to be enjoying the explanatory notes. I will admit that they are sometimes written purely as a 'fun fact' type of thing, because there's sometimes stray facts about the 'world' of the story that can't be put directly into the story and I want to get _some_ use out of them. I'm glad you enjoyed the bit where Amelia accidentally did a Xelloss imitation, and I'm pleased that you think I managed to keep everybody IC. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 4_ Interlude, At the Ball (1) 

Zelgadiss was glad that he was so good at imitating a statue. Hauk was obsessed over getting his master's tuxedo adjusted perfectly, and this afternoon was no different than any other time when he had to dress formally. He always wondered why his valet seemed to think that, if Zel could simply dress impeccably, social success would instantly follow. As far as Zelgadiss could tell, he could turn up wearing a toga made completely out of sacking and it wouldn't matter to most of the people at these social events.  
As always, he was dressed as plainly as he could convince Hauk was permissible. A nice standard tux was all he wanted to have to deal with, and it would be a bad idea to try to attract attention at the fete, particularly now. He didn't have to make a show of trying to convince some woman to be interested in taking him for, mainly, his money.  
At least having a concubine spared him from having to still cope with that, even though he'd not had sex with her since he took her virginity (and lost his own to her) a week ago. 

Sipping at the rather horrid punch, Zelgadiss reflected that it was perhaps a good thing that he had an excuse to leave early. The fete celebrating the opening of the set of parties celebrating various winter holidays was the same as it had been the year before, and the year before that. He couldn't quite understand why he had ever looked forward to being old enough to be invited to these things.  
The fetes, held by Lady Pyralis for as long as anybody could remember, almost always looked the same, just like Lady Pyralis. It was somewhat easier to deal with Lady Pyralis's changelessness, though, since nobody expected the regal mazoku lord to age. The only hint of why the fete didn't change at all over the centuries, except in its attendance, was the legend that the long-dead Lord Pyralis had always loved it.  
As a result, it was almost completely true that after having been to one of them, you might as well have attended each and every single one of her fetes. Spring or fall, summer or winter, the only changes aside from the mandatory seasonal changes in the weather and the flora were in who was there. The only reason Zelgadiss kept attending them after that realisation was the simple fact that, once you were old enough to go, people would expect you to be there.  
Unfortunately, this year the Gold Diggers seemed to be interested in him. None had approached him yet, but their tendency towards underestimating his hearing had already warned him that some of them had changed their minds. Apparently, they felt that since he had a paid mistress they'd be off the hook when it came to performing 'wifely' duties.  
"Hey, Zel!" called a welcomed voice. Not waiting for any indication that she was welcomed, Lina Inverse approached Zel's otherwise peaceful corner with a tall blond man in tow. "How'd you like your birthday presents?"  
Zelgadiss sighed, and hoped that Xelloss's traditional spiking of the punch would happen sooner than usual. 

Lina, he quickly discovered, had an amazingly complete list of what Zelgadiss had gotten for his birthday for somebody who had seemed too busy eating to notice, though she had been there at the time. She had managed to ask him about every single one of them, except...  
"How have you been enjoying Rezo's gift of a concubine?"  
Zelgadiss looked at her for a moment, stunned by not only the question but Lina's boldness. "I...I've been enjoying her company. She's a very nice woman." There was an awkward silence, and he decided to change the subject. "You've yet to introduce your friend, Lina."  
Lina seemed as relieved as he was by the change of subject, and smiled. "This is Gourry Gabriev, my fiancé. Gourry, this is Zelgadiss Greywords, my friend."  
The man's blue eyes focused on them, having thankfully been watching other people instead of paying any attention to the earlier conversation, and he smiled. "Nice to meet you, Zel."  
"It's an honor to meet you, too, Gourry," he replied nearly automatically. "You're already engaged, Lina? What a surprise."  
Lina glared at him, and he knew that if he was anybody or anything other than a chimera she'd have hit him. "My father and sister ran into him and really liked him, and decided he'd make a wonderful husband for me." It was clear that Lina was less than happy with the selection and the process used.  
Zelgadiss decided that it'd be healthier not to suggest that perhaps they had felt that finding any man willing to even consider marrying her was miracle enough, and that it'd be unreasonable to ask for more than one. 

Zelgadiss realized that Xelloss had already arrived when he noticed Xelloss's presence at his elbow during a lull in the racket of the party. It was a bit of a surprise to discover that he hadn't noticed Zelas Metallium and her small, yet elite, retinue arrive. Zelas was almost always dressed in what was certain to soon be the height of women's fashion, the few exceptions having always been when by some fluke the incoming fashions flattered few if any.  
Her son, while disinclined to be subject to the fickle tides of fashion, was always stylishly dressed. He had also become quite notorious as a ladies' man, and his recent marriage to one of the daughters of the Temple of Ceified had been quite unexpected. The gossips had been quite active in betting how long he'd stay faithful to her, and all agreed that it certainly couldn't be a marriage of love.  
Zelgadiss wasn't sure if he agreed with them as he noticed that Xelloss's somewhat unusual silence seemed to be due to the fact that his wife was off talking animatedly with several of her cousins from the Temple. The expression of Xelloss's face was not one that made him think that Xelloss liked seeing his wife paying so little attention to him. However, it quickly faded and was replaced by his normal cheerful expression as he noticed that Zel had finally become aware of his presence. "Ah, Zelgadiss... I've been meaning to ask you, how have you been enjoying Rezo's birthday present to you?"  
The corners of Zelgadiss's mouth twitched. Xelloss would of course ask that before asking how Zelgadiss had been enjoying _his_ choice, which was a rather interesting sex manual with even more interesting illustrations. "I've never been given a better present."  
Xelloss's grin became definitely authentic at that. "Have you made use of my present yet? After all, you do have the opportunity to do so, now."  
Zelgadiss shrugged slightly. "I haven't felt any need to do that yet." That would be partially true, really, since he had no intention of having sex with his concubine again if he could help it. Any ideas on sexual positions to try with her would be wasted, and would only make it harder for him to keep from doing more than just cuddling with her.  
Xelloss's smile twitched, and returned to its normal, possible-faked look. "Well, do tell me if you find it useful when you do get around to trying it."  
Zelgadiss nodded noncommittally, and further discussion was prevented by Lina and Gourry's return from the nearest source of food with their prizes. Lina, of course, chose the topic. 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The 'temple children,' as you might guess from how Filia is referred to, are the descendants of what was left of the Golden Dragon race after various causes combined to severely reduce their numbers. One of these happened to be an internal religious war, which was won by the followers of a break-away sect that believed that they should have much more to do with the humans, and the current system of Temples to Ceified and the local Dragon King below Ceified is based mostly on that prophet's ideas.  
Perhaps the most important to us is the fact that they will happily take in any children who are given to them and will raise all the children at any particular temple as their own, even if they are not. It seems that they do not really consider who a person's exact parents are except when it comes time to marry, and then the sole reason that is considered is to prevent incest. This, however, is not a particular worry since generally the children of any given temple will marry their 'cousins,' children from another temple. (The family terminology is used within the people attached to the temple extensively, but rarely by outsiders. This is unimportant outside from the fact that it will make a difference sometimes in how Filia refers sometimes to others.)  
Meanwhile, mazoku reproduction methods may or may not be different in this universe from how they are in the canon. I don't actually know. What I _do_ know, however, is that some bureaucrat a long time ago, from behind what must have been a very tough desk decided, to insist that everybody who wants to get their essential papers in proper order you must have two parents. This ruling has outlasted the man.  
Many mazokus' official papers have them listed as bastards, since they _are_ allowed to only have one parent _named_ as long as you don't claim that the person is both your sire _and_ dam. 

Reviews and dark chocolate would be really enjoyed, and will encourage me to work harder on this story. 


	5. Chapter 5 Interlude, At the Ball 2

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

Kioku, thanks for the dark chocolate... I'm glad you didn't mind that there was no direct Zel/Ame interaction in this chapter, and that you liked how the others were portrayed. I hope you did well on the finals!  
It could have been worse, Lauren-sama; you could have missed another chapter. (I should warn you that this week I'm trying to get this, Mr Somewhere, and Idylls all updated within the period of time I do updates.) Meanwhile, I'm glad you liked the opening line of this chapter, and that I somehow managed to keep the entire chapter from seeming rushed... I'm very happy that you liked how I wrote Lina; of all the characters in the series, she and Gourry are the ones I least understand. Anyways, plot developments are on the way, so please enjoy the second half of this interlude. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 5_ Interlude, At the Ball (2) 

Zelgadiss sighed. The fete had reached the point where everybody who could find a partner was expected to dance. Of course, he got to be a wallflower. Nobody wanted to dance with him.  
Much to his surprise, though, one of the gold-diggers came up to him. She wasn't actually an attractive woman. She wore clothes whose skimpiness only made the flaws in her figure hard to ignore, and wore excessive makeup to the point of actually attracting attention to what he could only hope had been things she wanted to hide. To top it all off, her hair was bleached blond, and in need of conditioning. It was obvious that she was nearing the end of her chances; only a desperate or a blind man would actually _marry_ her.  
"Hello, handsome," she began in an attempt at sultry tones that did more than merely fail. "Would you...like to dance?" The suggestiveness was too obvious to escape notice.  
"No," he said, trying to refrain from wondering what he did to deserve _this_. "I don't know how to dance," he said, which was a mild lie but almost required for him to politely turn her down.  
"I'm a very good teacher. I know all the moves," she said. The intended double meaning was still painfully, offensively obvious.  
Zelgadiss sighed. _Time for Plan two._ "Excuse me, but I need to get a fresh drink." She opened her mouth to say something, probably something suggestive about accompanying him, but he cut her off. "I can do _that_ by myself."  
She gave him an ugly look, and walked away quickly. Zelgadiss didn't care that she was offended by his behavior. He was happy that she had been willing to go away. 

Zelgadiss was left alone, as he wanted to be, for a while longer. Apparently his bruskness towards the gold-digger had managed to convince most of that group to leave him alone for the night. However, as the effects of the finally-spiked punch started to show on a few of the more fervent punch-drinkers, another approached him.  
This one was what the first might have been like when younger. She didn't wear as much makeup, though she more than made up for that by wearing too much of a heavy perfume. Her clothes hadn't been directly chosen for skimpiness, but rather chosen to be as skimpy as the current fashion might allow regardless of how unflattering the results might be on her figure. Her hair was dyed a fashionable color, too, though at least she made the effort to make sure that it was a good dye job and only the fact that the color clashed horribly with her complexion caused the unnatural nature of its origin to be known.  
"Would you please dance with me, sir?" she said with feigned shyness.  
Zelgadiss groaned. _Not again_, he thought to himself, and decided to lie for the sake of politeness once again. "No thank you, miss. I'm a very clumsy dancer."  
"Oh, but I don't mind a little clumsiness when I'm dancing with a handsome man!" Her attempt to make that sound 'girlishly cute' failed dramatically, though it might have worked on somebody other than the chimera.  
"I crush women's feet." He decided to add a false complement, since she wasn't completely offensive, just mostly so. "It would be a shame to ruin such lovely feet as yours."  
She smiled, apparently willing to accept this excuse. "Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to find another partner." 

Finally, the clock chimed 11 o'clock, and Zelgadiss could politely make his exit. Zel made a final circuit around the fete, making sure he made his required goodbyes to his friend Lina and her fiancé, the hostess, and Xelloss (whom everybody else insisted counted as his friend) & his wife. The last one he found was Xelloss, who was standing at an edge and drinking punch with his wife in unusual silence when he found them. Xelloss was unusually cooperative in letting Zel finish his obligatory farewell, not even saying anything past the automatic polite response.  
Zelgadiss worked his way to the exit, wondering why Xelloss acted so strangely and if that had anything to do with Xelloss's recent marriage, when someone wrapped an arm over one of his shoulders from behind. "Long time no see, Zel-chan!" a sugared voice drawled in his ear. He tried to not flinch too much, recognizing the voice and smelling the alcohol on the speaker's breath.  
"I'm sorry, Melannye, but I was leaving." She was his least favorite of the gold-diggers. Melannye Dela-Mer was well-bred, true, but her elder brother would inherit the Dela-Mer fortune and she would at best get a stipend if she didn't marry. As a result, she took after her mother and did her best to seem like what she thought any man would dream of having as a wife.  
She had also been one of the first, and definitely the most cruel, of the women to reject Zelgadiss down when Rezo was trying to arrange a proper marriage for his heir. He was not surprised that she was flirting with him while she was drunk.  
Thankfully, she was intoxicated enough that he was easily able to politely remove her from his shoulders. She blinked drunkenly, and must have spotted another unattached male as she stumbled away from him. Zelgadiss spared one glance in her direction, and smirked as he saw that her new victim was Gourry. He was almost tempted to stay to see what Lina's reaction to that would be, but he didn't want to risk being drawn back into the fete. 

Zelgadiss cautiously pushed the apartment's door open, not sure if he was quite welcome. He had forgotten last morning, yesterday morning now, that he would be arriving there around midnight. He knew that Ami didn't know him well enough yet to know that he kept his word. For some reason, that made him feel bad, but he didn't know why he would want Ami to know him that well when he didn't want to become attached to her nor for her to get attached to him.  
He relaxed as he saw her innocently curled up and sound asleep on the couch where she must have been waiting for him. Her robe hung slightly open, revealing a pale pink slip. He couldn't help thinking that she was innocent...and sexy. He sighed, and told himself that he was being a pervert by finding her innocence a turn-on.  
He quietly changed into his pajamas and carried her to the bed. She looked much too cute and sweet for him to wake her up, but the couch wasn't a very warm place for sleeping and she didn't deserve to be cold because she'd waited for him.  
The bed was more comfortable for cuddling in, too. He carefully tucked her into the bed, then slid in beside her. Zelgadiss pulled her form against his own, tucking her head beneath his chin. She was warm, and very soft...  
All he had to do is keep telling himself that it didn't and wouldn't hurt to spend yet another night cuddling her and enjoying the warmth of her form against his own. 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

There's very little for me to say, except that I've no idea where Melannye Dela-Mer came from nor if she's going to ever turn up again. The women who turn up in this chapter are not based on any particular females I know, because I've been quite lucky and never had to deal with those particular types. 

Dark chocolate and reviews will encourage me to work faster & be welcomed. 


	6. Chapter 6 Changes 1

Kioku: Is this my cue to laugh insanely? Aside from that, I'm not sure if I should be happy about the hijacking. Don't indulge in property damage when you arrive...  
Lauren-sama: I'm glad you think I did a good job filling out the minor chara in the previous chapter. I wasn't sure if I'd filled them out enough or too much, so it's nice to hear that I did just find. (Melannye may not stay a minor chara, though; I'm not sure yet.) I'm very happy that you enjoyed all four scenes & found the final one sweet and that the descriptions in it worked so well.  
Claudia: Thanks for the dark chocolate! I'm working very hard on keeping the chara mostly IC, and I'm quite happy that you also find the end of the previous chapter sweet. 

I only just noticed that I've been neglecting to include disclaimers, so...  
Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
I may go back soon and reload the previous chapters with the disclaimers added. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 6_ Changes (1) 

Zelgadiss adjusted his cape and veil nervously. He still couldn't quite believe that he had accepted Ami's request that he join her that afternoon. He had been aware in a vague way that the girls in the brothels lived under strict travel restrictions, but he hadn't before quite realized that those rules would apply to her.  
He managed to determine that yes, the travel restrictions did allow her to leave unaccompanied, but he'd still found himself incapable of refusing her. There was something attractive about the idea of helping her choose a few new outfits, too attractive for him to say no to it. He was still wondering if it was worth all the bother, particularly that of having the guards manning the gate to the red light district making sure they had record of who was inside his car as he entered the red light district, when her door swung open.  
It took him a minute to realize that it was Ami standing there. He wasn't used to seeing her wearing more than lingerie under a robe. He didn't mind the change, though. The simple white dress she was wearing, with matching gloves, stockings, and shoes, looked very good on her. The only discordant part of her outfit was the white leather choker locked around her neck with a pair of metal tags dangling from it.  
She smiled cheerfully at him. "Thank you for coming, Zelgadiss-sama. I wasn't sure if you would come."  
He shrugged slightly. "I said I would come, and I keep my word. Let's go." 

Amelia sighed. She had been expecting Zelgadiss-sama to walk with her. Instead, he was currently following her from nearly a block behind her and doing his best to not have it look like he was with her while on the street. She knew that she really shouldn't be surprised, but...  
It was still depressing, particularly since at the start Zelgadiss-sama had been walking with her. Then he had insisted on lagging behind her after they had stopped at the border between the red light district proper and the shopping and entertainment district that was treated as part of it for the guards to check her tags. It was a humiliating reminder for her, and it didn't help that it seemed that the only reason Zelgadiss-sama had been walking with her in the first place was because he hadn't realized that her status would be so obviously displayed.  
She stopped at the corner to check the sign, noting as she did that Zelgadiss decided to take an interest in the window of a store selling linens and beds. The sign said she was at 'East 25th Rowan.' A quick glance told her that Rowan turned into a dark and narrow alleyway to her left, which meant that she needed to stop and remember the directions Asp had given her. The clothing store her friend had suggested was supposed to be less than a block away from here, but she couldn't remember if she was supposed to go straight or turn to the right.  
As Amelia was lost in thought, a big thug stepped out of the alleyway and grabbed her tightly from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. She tried to break free or at least call for help, but was thwarted by a combination of a large hand being quickly clamped over her mouth and her captor's seeming insensitivity to pain. 

Zelgadiss looked at the window display of one of the stores and tried not to look suspicious nor be too interested in what was on display to be oblivious to Amelia's actions. He hadn't realised before what form the passes issued to prostitutes took, nor how obvious it would be to everybody exactly what the profession was of the girl walking with him. It was embarassing, and the jokes he had overheard the guards at the checkpoint making about her and himself didn't help diminish his embarassment in the least.  
The shops weren't what he had expected, either. The ones so far had been mostly selling furnishings and room decorations. A few were somewhat out of place, like the small 'mart' right outside of the guard-station that carried groceries and various other things a person might find themselves needing on short notice or a store carrying only mirrors. Of course, he was certain that once they were more than a couple blocks away from where the brothels were restricted to the stores would at least become more exotic; these stores probably survived almost purely upon the business of those who lived in the immediate area.  
That didn't keep the window displays from being interesting, though. The things displayed in the windows were always tasteful and sometimes even appealing. The bed in the window of this particular store was a good example of that second category.  
The four-posted frame was made of ironwork, its lines plain and simple aside from the posts themselves which twisted their way upwards. A piece of dark wood was fixed at the bed's head as a headboard, a bit of a gap between its ends and the posts it was between so that the rods holding it in place could be seen. The white bedding looked somehow appropriate to it, and the mattress looked soft.  
The thought of how nice Ami would look on that bed reminded him that he needed to be paying a bit more attention to her so he'd at least know which direction when she started walking again. He looked towards the sign, only to see that she was gone. He walked carefully towards where he had last seen her, berating himself for having been so distracted. 

Amelia watched her cousin warily. She didn't like the fact that he'd gone to such trouble to meet her again after having sold her simply to get her out of the way. She had been relieved when she realized that she'd never see him again; rumors find transportation easily among the girls of the brothels, and she knew that Alfred had at least ordered several murders after she had vanished and that she was lucky to be alive. Seeing him again made her wonder if he had changed his mind about letting her live.  
"Hello, my _dear_ cousin Amelia. I've not seen you in such a long time." He grinned, and lifted Amelia's chin so he could see her eyes. "You wouldn't believe how disappointed Kanzel has been about all of this... He had originally wanted me to kill you, did you know that? But I wasn't quite prepared to kill a member of my own family, yet, and he relented when Mazenda proposed that we sell you...  
"I'm sure that, if you weren't gagged, you'd ask me to thank her for you. Do you have any idea how disappointed I was to discover that I couldn't come and tell you how much you had to thank Mazenda and myself for? I'm sure your thanks would have been worth the cost of buying your virginity..."  
Amelia became all too aware of the feeling of his other hand slowly moving up her leg, lifting her skirt, and the feel of his crotch against her. She tried to break free, and he only laughed. The two goons with him were as silently oblivious as ever, and continued to hold her against the brick wall. She was left with only the hope that Zelgadiss-sama would notice she wasn't on the street corner and come to save her.  
"I had been expecting a much friendlier welcome from you, Amelia..." 

Zelgadiss heard, faintly, somebody saying _something_ to somebody named 'Amelia,' and realized that something was wrong. Not making any attempt to approach them quietly, he arrived at the mouth of the alley in time to see a man turn the corner at the other end while a pair of matching thugs let Ami fall to the ground so they could delay him long enough for the fleeing man to get away.  
A pair of fireballs took care of them, revealing that they were merely golems, and he knelt beside Ami. He gently took the gag off of her, checking he as well as he could for any injuries. "Are you okay," he paused, unsure for a few moments of what name to call her, "Amelia?"  
She looked at him, eyes wide. "Zelgadiss-sama, you heard...?" He nodded. "Please, Zelgadiss-sama, _don't_ call me that in public. I...I'll explain later, in private. Please?"  
"I will hold you to that," he said, not wanting to insist on her explaining right now. "We're going back to the Blue Lotus now, though. You're in no condition for us to continue your shopping trip. I'll tuck you into your bed, and let you get some rest." He lifted her up in his arms, ignoring the feelings that stirred within him as he did so, and started walking back to the guard-station.  
She sighed and rested her head against his chest. "Would you please stay with me, Zelgadiss-sama? And, please, I don't want this reported to the guards. Their investigation of it would do nothing more than cause me trouble."  
He sighed. "I suppose you'll explain that later, when you explain why you don't want me to call you by that name?"  
She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, Zelgadiss-sama." 

Zelgadiss made sure that the apartment's door was locked, wanting to let Amelia, or whomever she was, change. It didn't hurt that this way he also got more time to consider what had happened. The walk back, with her often in his arms and close beside him (except for the few minutes it took for Madame Zola to take her collar off of her), had not been conducive to deep thought.  
The door to her bedroom creaked as she swung it open, and he turned. Coherent thought took a short break as he realized that she was wearing her white robe, tied closely. "Zelgadiss-sama, thank you..."  
"I couldn't let you be...attacked when I was supposed to be walking with you," he said with a faint blush gracing his cheeks.  
She smiled. "I promised to tell you why I didn't want to report the attack, and why I didn't want you to call me 'Amelia' in public. I assume you would rather I told you now, instead of later?"  
He nodded, and she sat down on the couch. "The man leading them is...a relative of mine. He was the one who sold me, and he has been...disappointed about not being able to...hire me. If he had succeeded with his intentions, we would at best be separated for at most a month while waiting to make sure I was not carrying his child. More likely, I would just...lose my contract instead. If that happened..."  
"Oh. Then, he could...rent you." He sat down on the couch beside her, letting her lean against him and unconsciously slipping an arm over her shoulders. "But wouldn't that be a reason to report him? So he'd be arrested and unable to try again?"  
"It's not that easy. He had my papers forged, because he didn't properly have custody of me. That would be almost certain to come out, and I'd be freed... He's a dangerous man, though, and I feel safer here right now."  
"That's why you don't want me to call you 'Amelia' in public, right? Because that's your real name?" He wondered where he had heard the name before, but it probably had nothing to do with her. Even with her having false papers, that had been common for a while when a family had wanted to hide the fact that they had sold one of their daughters.  
"Yes. I'm currently waiting until it's safe to leave..." She looked up at him with a slight, nervous smile. "Zelgadiss-sama, you've been very kind to me, and you're really a very good person. I really like you..."  
He looked at her, his confusion clear and a blush on his face from the compliments. "I like you, too...but...?"  
"Oh, no 'but's. I just would like you to make love to me. Often."  
He stared at her, not missing her giant blush. "_**What?** Why?_"  
"Because, if we're not trying to make a baby, I'll lose my contract. I won't cheat Rezo-sama by lying about it, either. It wouldn't be just. Also..." She looked down, shyly. "I would like to have your baby."  
He pulled her close to him and hugged her gently. "Are you sure about that, Amelia? You don't care if you get hurt, or maybe even die because...?"  
She sighed and relaxed against his body. "I'm certain, Zelgadiss-sama. I like you, a _lot_, and I want to do as much as I can for you and be as close to you as I may..."  
He sighed in resignation. "Then, if that's what you want... I won't refuse you it."  
"Thank you, Zelgadiss-sama." 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The average prostitute in this world is functionally a slave to the owner of her brothel. Admittedly, they are usually very pampered slaves, they officially will be free should they either buy out their contract or wait until it runs out, and any offspring of theirs are almost always free. However, since it's very rare for a prostitute's employment contract to be allowed to expire -- they can be renewed without the prostitute's consent -- many who cannot save up the money to buy their contracts out or who have trouble waiting until they have enough to do so try to run away.  
The travel restrictions also are used to control where prostitutes go and when they are out and about. While prostitution is an accepted and highly regulated business, it is not considered acceptable to have prostitutes running around all over the place, which is why the red light district exists. Over the years, the area that prostitutes are restricted to has been called the 'red light district' even though it might be more accurately called a 'Tenderloin' as the brothels themselves are restricted to a smaller section contained completely within it.  
It is actually not all 'sleazy,' though certainly there are some parts that are more sleazy than others. Most of the theaters are inside of this district, as well as all the houses of the professional hostesses, who are very much like the geisha of Japan. The professional hostesses are a highly respected class, and have great freedom.  
(Details on this will be covered at another time.)  
The tags are, like the travel restrictions, part of the rules regulating when and where prostitutes go. They are a clear sign that the wearer is a prostitute, and both serves to make it easier to enforce the travel laws and the unintended effect of warning people of the wearer's profession. 

As always, dark chocolate and reviews will encourage me to work faster and are very welcome. 


	7. Chapter 7 Changes 2

Kioku: Yes, I am glad that you didn't break my door. It's nice to know that somebody found her finally making a justice speech (of a sort) kawaii; it took so long because, before now, we've gotten to see more of Zelgadiss's normal personality because of the first interlude. Hmmm...aside from that: you're somewhat right, there never was a society/culture like this one. However, I'm using elements from various cultures from around the same time period... The chibis are happy, but are wondering why they're getting cinnamon buns (they're little kids, I'm not telling them about this story!) and thank you very much for the dark chocolate.  
Lauren-sama, I don't know yet if -- or more accurately, when -- things might get to be too much for Amelia within the story itself. At this point, there's only one thing left between her and at least one smooth year is Zel's issues. (However, she's had a pretty rough time up until now, and if people are interested I might go ahead and write a side-story covering Amelia's back-story. Currently, I don't really expect to go into much detail about it here, since this is turning out to be mainly Zelgadiss's story.)  
The way you talk about my revealing plot details makes me feel like I've been writing this as a mystery! I couldn't have had the encounter with her cousin occur sooner, though. At least I don't have to wonder anymore if my version of Alfred here isn't too off; I couldn't quite justify to myself having him be very close to how he was in NEXT... Your question(s) on the setting are the primary subject of this chapter's end notes.  
Alea Ishikawa, I'll take any good-quality dark chocolate. I'm very happy you liked it, and I'm really sorry about having taken so long. (Lauren-sama seems to have jinxed me by complementing my having been previously able to update weekly. I've no idea if I'll be able to return to doing that now, but I will try...) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Blue Lotus  
By Ryo Hoshi **

_Chapter 7_ Changes (2) 

Zelgadiss watched Amelia nervously, wondering if he had won this round. He _knew_ it was cruel to her to have promised to...to have sex with her when that was the last thing he intended to do. So far, his delaying tactics had been on the whole successful.  
She hadn't complained when, after they had spent untold minutes cuddling, he announced he wanted to bathe. He didn't bother mentioning that it would be a cold bath. She had even encouraged him, saying that she would see what could be done towards dinner, since she was hungry and she was certain he could stand eating something before bed.  
She had 'borrowed' his clothes while she was at it. All she had left him was his robe. Then he discovered what she had gotten them for dinner.  
The presentation was lovely, he had to admit that. The two teacups were beautiful works of art. The bowl of stew was steaming, with a sprig of a foreign herb called parsley looking crisp sitting on the center and clearly intended to be eaten from directly.  
The tie had come loose on Amelia's belt, too, and it hung open just enough for him to see that she was wearing nothing but the robe. He wasn't sure why he felt relieved when she reassured him that she hadn't actually left her rooms, and had cooked the stew herself. He was doing his best to ignore the fact that she blushed cutely as she said that.  
Now they were sitting on the couch, with her sitting in his lap and leaning against him. He was, in his opinion, doing a wonderful job of ignoring the fact that she was warm, soft, and almost completely naked. She hadn't said anything yet about being poked by something.  
The bowl had been emptied quickly. The stew had tasted good, and it had felt somehow wrong to talk while they shared it. Amelia looked drowsy, and he thought that perhaps if he carried her to bed carefully enough she might be willing to just sleep, snuggling together.  
He lifted her up gently, nervous in case she might protest. When she smiled and cuddled closer to his chest, he relaxed and started heading for the bed. 

Amelia sighed happily as Zelgadiss-sama cradled her against his chest. She felt wonderful; he'd been so nice and understanding. He'd not insisted on making love immediately after their conversation or otherwise rushed her, but had been content to cuddle together.  
She had done her best to repay him. While he bathed, she had remembered that she'd forgotten to make sure his pajamas had gotten washed during the day, and noticed that his clothes had gotten dirty. She went ahead and sent them to the laundry room, knowing that they'd be returned in the morning. She had then gone ahead and done her best to prepare a meal for him, since she'd been unable to arrange for something to be sent from the kitchen while it was still early enough that the kitchen would have been cooperative.  
Amelia would have preferred to have had two separate bowls for the stew she'd made. She had added to her grocery list a request for more china, in pairs, while Zelgadiss-sama had still been bathing. She didn't regret doing so, because while she had enjoyed getting to cuddle with Zelgadiss-sama while eating, she wanted to have it by choice next time instead of necessity.  
Now Amelia felt relaxed, her stomach full of good, warm food. She could tell that Zelgadiss-sama was carrying her to bed, and she felt ready for what she certainly hoped he was planning on doing once there. She had felt evidence of his arousal poking her almost all through dinner.  
She was certain that this was what she wanted. He'd been very kind to her, kinder than she'd had any reason to expect a customer to be. She knew that it wasn't unknown for a customer to actually want to do nothing more that cuddle and maybe kiss, but... She had become certain early on that Zelgadiss-sama wanted more than just that and the reason he wasn't trying to do more with her was because he genuinely cared for her.  
She wasn't sure that it wasn't too early to say that she was in _love_ with him, with all that would imply. They'd only known each other for about three weeks, and they'd only rarely talked about themselves. Until now, they'd never spoken about their pasts, or about anything more important in their lives than the relevant parts of their schedules.  
Amelia felt a slight twinge of guilt at the thought of schedules, and was thankful that he was distracted by the door to the bedroom. She wasn't certain how little he knew about female biology, but he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that her time of the month was almost certainly due soon. At least some good had come of that day's events. It would have been uncomfortable for the both of them if she'd had to ask Zelgadiss-sama to make love to her because..._that_ was coming up and she needed to be at least able to honestly say that they were _trying_.  
She sighed happily as Zelgadiss-sama put her down on the bed, and stretched out in glad anticipation. Finally, she'd get to do her job and remember doing it.  
Amelia smiled as he lay down beside her and pulled her against him, embracing her. She cuddled even closer to him and waited for Zelgadiss-sama to do...something.  
After a few minutes of listening to his soft breathing and waiting, she pulled back and looked at his face. His eyes were closed, and his expression peaceful. Under other circumstances, she might have happily let him sleep, except...  
Amelia still felt the proof that he was ready and able to make love to her poking her thigh, and she doubted that anybody could fall asleep as quickly as he seemed to have without some prior sign of lethargy.  
"Zelgadiss-sama...?" 

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I've realized that I need to expand on the setting time-wise of this story. To start with, this is _**not**_ modern-set. The primary sources, aside from Slayers, of the setting are late Victorian & Edwardian England, America between the turn of the (20th) century and the Great Depression, and late Tokagawa & Meiji Japan. Most of the truly modern elements are directly from Slayers itself. (A few things might get randomly shuffled in, too.)  
If anybody is interested on which of those (not including Slayers), is being used for what... The culture is taken from England and Japan, in pretty much equal measure. The technology is mostly from America during the first three decades of the previous century, though some things are at later stages in development. This story's world isn't really supposed to be an analogue of our own at any given time. 

The distinction between saying, in this setting, that you 'like' somebody and 'love' them does bear a short note. 'Love,' when not referring to the sort which is supposed to exist within a family, normally implies that you desire a long-term committed relationship with the other person. Neither Zelgadiss or Amelia are likely to say that they love the other one too quickly, particularly since it would be rather awkward under the present circumstances for them to marry. 

The full version of this chapter is posted on AFF.net, at adultfan. nexcess. net/aff/story.php?no=15313 because it includes a lemon...and part of the plot which insisted on sharing space with & involving the lemon.  
Dark chocolate and reviews will encourage me to work on getting the next chapter out sooner. 


End file.
